Right Thinking from the Left Coast

Tag: Irene

Granted, the specific appeal of any political commentator/talk show host to the individual is usually directly proportional to the precision at which his views line up your own, either bulwarking a conclusion already drawn or causing one to change course mid stream.

Has this ever happened to you? Some pundit for which you have an affinity for and align well with says something so excruciatingly off the mark and silly that you wonder if the disconnect is on you, but then after reflection conclude that no, he is not always right and on this one, really wrong, then wonder how it possible that he could whiff it so bad?

Case in point for me. I think Mark Levin is one smart dude. Not only does he know The Constitution, but if you have ever read any of his books, his power of persuasion is matched only by the alacrity at which he commands the topic at hand. But, the other day, he said something about Chris Christie on his radio show that had me beyond scratching my head:

Here is the offending comment from Gov. Christie:

What is Mark talking about? Everything Christie said made perfect sense to me. For about a week we had the best weather prognosticators telling us that Irene was serious, that it could be the worse hurricane to hit the East Coast in one hundred years. Everyday we saw those graphics of those hurricane icons traveling up the coast, and they all had 3’s on them. Warning people to get off the beach and take precautions was not only sensible but that is what public officials are suppose to do. He was not over reacting, he was not under pressure, he was being responsible. You would think that after all this coverage prior to it hitting the coast, that most sane reasonable people would understand the seriousness and the danger, but he is the governor for all the people of NJ, even the stupid ones, and dumbing down instructions to the lowest common denominator is necessary for maximum impact and the safety of everyone.

And Levin’s statement about you are on your own is just stupid. Emergency rescue crews must be dispatched for anyone who needs it. If you are having a picnic on the beach in the middle of a hurricane and find yourself in jeopardy, emergency personnel (fire, police, paramedics) can’t say ,”Well, they were warned, anyone out there now is on their own, we have no duty to render aid”. Yes, you have the right to stay in your home, eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the beach, and any other stupid thing imaginable, but our elected officials have a duty to warn us of impending danger, that is what Christie did.

I can’t blame it on a slow news day, there is lot’s of stuff to talk about, why is Levin ragging on Christie?

I always get a chuckle out of folks that seem surprised at the stupidity of some people. Instead of trying to analyze the disconnect in the the thinking process, a more seasoned anthropologist would just sit back and enjoy the comedy.

This poor reporter can’t understand the behavior of some locals when confronted with Irene:

Alcohol does lessen the impact of calamity, but why is this guy speechless? With the power out in your house, there is not much to do, fornicate maybe, but how long does that take? Any excuse for a party, what’s not to understand?

I’m struck by all articles of late claiming that Irene was overhyped. First off, anything that can get Obama to cut his vacation short, sounds like the real deal to me. But this sentiment flies in the face of some rather obvious precepts:
Who can accurately predict the path of hurricanes, or any natural disasters? How many times have we seen tornadoes jump about randomly, uprooting one farm and leaving the next door neighbor unscathed, I guess that guy could ask ,”What’s the big deal?”.
Isn’t it always better, when warning the public of a possible impending disaster, better to be safe then sorry? Yes, it’s great that Irene lost some intensity and got downgraded, all the way from a level 3 hurricane to a tropical storm, but this was fortuitous, not foreseen.
News is all about ratings and the more calamitous the predictions the more eyes and ears you will get. Sweeping histrionic predictions will get people’s attention, and who to say they were wrong?

Irene Causes Worst Floods in 100 Yrs.

Many in Vermont, Penn., and NY, know they pretty much got their ass kicked, don’t tell them Irene was “overblown”.

It will probably be at least a week before anyone gets a handle on what the damages will be. Total deaths, so far is 28.